Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Thinking About the Next Internet

Qwiki came online to the public today in alpha form and right from the start it demonstrates that the future of search will be social and multi-media inclusive.

While in no way do I find the Qwiki experience ideal -- I generally have problems with site-hosted sound that competes with whatever I'm listening to as I surf -- I do see it as marking the type of future the Web might present. As it stands now, the Internet is still primarily a visual medium. Part of that has to do with the battles that went on years ago with Napster and the like that forced music and commercial film into proprietary situations like iTunes. And despite YouTube's appeal as a place to find information and video stuff, no one would confuse it with a site that provides a welcoming and engaging aesthetic experience.

In a way, our forms of communication themselves have become (once again?) primarily visual. Just compare the number of emails and texts you've sent in the last three weeks to the number of phone conversations you've had.

And so, there is a great opportunity for an Internet experience to develop that is more social, more interactive with all senses and intelligences, and more aesthetically engaging. What will it look like? Well that's anyone's guess. But I think Qwiki offers us a glimpse into what might very well be in its infancy, namely the New Internet.

1 comment:

Did you know Qwiki is co-founded by Eduardo Saverin, of Facebook fame? It is definitely more visually engaging too, though I wonder if this will compete too much with the content of the entries. I can see my students really liking having the entries read aloud to them, but I'm hoping the depth of information increases with use.

Subscribe via RSS Reader

Teach Paperless: Now!

TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

Buzz Paperless

TeachPaperless was noted as a Twitterer worth ReTweeting by Education Week's Digital Education blog. Also in Ed Week: "Shelly Blake-Plock has had some really intriguing posts already this year and I'm already behind. Considering he published 639 entries on his TeachPaperless blog in 2009 it's going to be hard to keep up, but well worth the try."

“When I originally contacted Shelley last week to inquire as to whether or not he would be willing to talk to my staff, he jumped right in, and he didn’t disappoint. What impressed me most about him as I listened to him describe his practice was his clear vision of what it meant for his students to function in a classroom that he designed: it was about them learning. He truly designed the environment with their learning–their unbridled learning–in mind. His decision was not a secretarial one, but rather came from a desire to push students to take control of information gathering, processing, and creating.” – Chalkdust 101

TeachPaperless was named one of the 'Top 25 Blogs for Educators' byWorld Wide Learn.

"I think you have some great ideas for teachers, and as we do professional development around the state of Maryland, we will point teachers to your blog." Debbie Vickers of Thinkport.org a partnership between Maryland Public Television and Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education

"The invention of the computer promised to lead us to a paperless society but has failed to deliver on that promise... until now, perhaps?" TeachPaperless was featured by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning as an Everyday Innovation

Your friendly contributing bloggers...

License and Disclaimer

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

You may re-use this content online for noncommercial purposes without needing to ask permission, as long as you credit the source in writing as Teach Paperless and on the web by adding a link back to our web site,www.teachpaperless.com

And of course, everything on this blog is the personal opinion of the individual bloggers and does not reflect the opinions of of anyone else, including employers, in any way. But that should be obvious by now.

Photo Credit: MJ Wojewodzki; a portion of a painted wall in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii [2006]